Border Collie

my 2 bigger dogs hardly respond at all to my tone of voice thanks to my family members who abuse it, but I am trying to fix it these days and I think they gradually get the hang of it. hopefully soon enough I will have to watch sounding too angry than to try and sound angry enough.

i have a border collie but he is lazy...mind you he love to play with balls and go for swim but when it comes to training he just looks at me and lays down....how do i go about that in training him to want to do learn new stuff? another thing he barks at everyone and i mean everyone even the people he know and seen. My brother lives at end of the 2 acres and when he comes down to the house he barks and he see him every day!! any suggestions???

When I got Breeze (at about 5 months) she barked all the time...at everything! I just had to be very consistent with her, and when she barked pick her up and remove her from the situation to somewhere quiet for her to calm down. I also did lots of work to get her interacting with me, so she would pay more attention to me. I've now got to a position with where she rarely barks, and if something is really exciting to her I can call her name and she looks at me, so I can then distract her with doing some tricks/a game.

If your dog barks when your brother visits I would suggest putting him out of the room, perhaps in a crate so he cant wreck your house) till he calms down. When he is quiet let him back in the room, if he barks, put him out again. Keep doing this till he is quiet when you let him in...then give him praise. He will find he is rewarded (allowed to stay in the room with you) when he is quiet.

thank stormi...i am going to try that. I wasn't sure why he barked i mean at everything and anyone that he already know in the same house...but when i say quiet he stop it just can get annoying when he see my husband and he barking at him and then it click oh this is my owner too and he cuddleful...

Does any one know of a really good border collie book? one that teach me how to train him...maybe there something i missing in how to get that sparks in training...I am not even asking for much just a look..hehehe Toby is just a funny dog.

:goodpost: I enjoyed every word! You are so right about many feel "No sheep, no Border Collie!" We had a heck of a time getting a BC rescue to give us a dog, and ended up getting one from a dogpound.
Your insights are so spot-on. Our BC does indeed follow us from room to room, though, he must be able to see us at all times, but he is a rescued dog, no telling what his past is. Ha, he also tries to "herd" all 3 of us into one room, he goes from person to person, very softly whimper to them, or try to engage them, to lead them into the room that the others are in!! Is cute. Once he gets ALL in one room, he visibly relaxes, like, "Ahhh...now my work is done!"

If someone gets up and leaves the room, Buddy goes on alert, watching to see what they are doing, and how long are they gonna be outa the room, and might go pester them a bit, if they are taking too long to rejoin the 'herd'...:msngiggle:
Buddy does not do this ALL the time, but sometimes the herder in him just takes over!!

There ARE a few BCs who are less demanding, your post is certainly true of MOST BCs, a few that have normal activity needs, but there are even the rare couch-potato BCs, or so i've been told, but i do think almost all BCs need to use their minds, that is for sure!! It IS so fun, watching their eyes as they figure stuff out!!:doglaugh:

Hey guys I just recently got a 1-year-old Border Collie and he's very sweet and affectionate. However, he just wants to lay around all day or follow us from room to room (which is I think is great, that he follows us). He seems completely disinterested in training. I clicker trained my other dog to do all kinds of stuff... including wipe her feet when coming inside. But my Border Collie just looks at me and may attempt to do things once or twice and then just walks away or lays down. I've seen so many videos of excited Border Collies just waiting to be told what to do, but this one doesn't seem to want to get started learning things. Do you guys have any advice?
Thanks,
Mary

Does he like toys? Get him to associate TONS OF PLEASURE to playing with a tug toy. Then you can use that in your training and reward with toys instead of food. I get a much better response with toys than with food with my B.C.

Anyone else found their BC hard to train?? Mine will herd up the horses easy, and LOVES playing catch....but wont bring anything back?? And after trick training my previous dogs with much success Ive only managed to teach him to lay down and sit/stay....its like he isnt interested in that kind of stuff.....am I the only one???

This is very strange. Fly is my first BC (but not my first dog) and she's the easiest dog I've ever had. When you say he herds horses, what do you mean ? You mean you leave him herd on his own ? If this is the case, then he works for himself, not for you. Maybe you could try herding with a pro who could teach you and him how to "team-herd" together.

Oh no, its always when I head down to feed them, will take directions, and we are starting some herding with a guy who has his own dogs, the point I was trying to make is that he is so cluey with things like that but is so slow to try and train regular things...it took me 2 days of about 3 short lessons to teach my previous BCx "Bang and Play Dead" and it took me 3 months to teach him to lie down!! As soon as he doesnt understand something he will just give up and then gets intimidated if I keep trying. ..no matter how short the lessons or how fun I try and make it! And yet he learns quick smart again at our agility type stuff!

It's a good thing to start proper herding with this guy ! Regarding your dog, what kind of relationship do you have with him ? Do you get on well with him as much as the other ones ? Maybe he just doesn't want to "work" with you. Or maybe he's the just the odd one, not as brilliant as the other ones. Where does he come from ? Are his parents working or show dogs ? Origins can make a difference.

Yeh I get along with him great, he looks to me more then anyone else...but I guess even as a puppy he was fairly into doing his own thing. I got him from a local breeder, he has some dogs he works (his dad reg with CCCQ) but doesnt show or compete...maybe he is just born to work! Im finding that if I take it a bit slower with him, build his trust up and teach him his tricks one stage at a time, and not move on until he is confident then he seems to respond better. Just surprised me that he was such a challenge considering he definatly isnt a silly dog

It may just be a lack of confidence then. Herding will probably help him a lot. Especially as you say he's got working dog origins. He needs to work with his instinct and learn how to control it. Tell us how it goes.

I've been reading up on Border Collies a bit because I am really looking into adding one to the family one day. Since I was a kid I admired BC's. Looking into the intelligent eyes of a Border Collie makes my heart melt. And I just LOVE to watch them in action - racing around or how concentrated they can be during obedience or trick training.

My only concern are the kids. I have 3 of them and the youngest is only 5. I spend plenty of time with other peoples children (example: basketball training, there is always someone having a sleepover at our place, generally I bring 6 different kids home every day after school).
With proper training and lot's of exercise would you think that the herding instinct could be a problem? I am worried about a BC nipping the kids. Or should I be able to redirect this instinct through training and obedience?

With my puppy I go for a walk for an hour in the morning and 2 hours before I pick up the kids from school. Plus half an hour after dinner. Smokey is ALWAYS with me and so would the BC be.
Is it a good idea to start looking for a suitable BC at the shelters or do you think I should wait for the kids to be a bit older?

Can't really tell you Ina. You are aware of the main problems you may meet with a border collie. The walk frequency looks fine for a BC. Now the herding aspect can certainly be mastered but of course, that's what they are bred for. Fly does not herd after people nor kids (however we do go herding sheep which helps controlling her instinct). However, I know that she really hates it when small kids shout and scream aloud and I think she could actually bite to get rid of the problem. They are sensitive dogs, but not dangerous. However, if you decide to have one from the shelter (that's a very good thing, poor dogs they want to get out of there), try to get a young one that can learn the behaviours you expect. Never forget they do need mental activity more than anything else.

My border collie is ery ery timid and shy. He is low energy, prefers to sleep, he is 8 1/2 and has a problem with his back so he can't sit up and beg like most can. He is so caring, but if my son has a temper tantrum, he sits and shakes. Hates fireworks, and loud noises. Hates swimming. Adores my son. He is like a big kid in a fur coat. Now if only I could get him to talk to me life would be perfect.